In first year Italian (Italian 1 & 2), students learn to read, write, understand and speak basic Italian. During each class session, I present vocabulary and grammar (how to form sentences) in an organized and hopefully interesting manner. During the presentation, students take notes, answer easy questions and translate easy phrases into Italian. After the presentation, students have time to ask each other questions and do other group activities using the words and grammar they have just learned. Students are free to ask questions in English or Italian at any time.

For homework, I usually have students write out the questions they asked each other in class and write an original answer for each question. I correct the students' homework personally and return it at the beginning of each class session.

There is a test after each unit. Each test indicates how much a student has learned. Grades are based solely on how much a student has learned.

At the end of Italian 2, a serious, capable student will be able to communicate in Italian on a basic level both here at home and with Italians in Italy.

Although learning the Italian language is our main goal, I include readings about Italian geography, history and culture from time to time.

LinguisticsLinguistics 1 is offered every semester.

Linguistics is the scientific study of language. The possession of language, perhaps more than any other attribute, distinguishes humans from other animals.

In Linguistics 1, we typically discuss such topics as:

• The languages of the world
• Human language compared with animal systems of communication
• The differences between languages, dialects and accents
• Lingua francas, pidgins and creoles
• Language, sex and gender
• Writing systems, such as ideograms and alphabets
• Phonetics (the study of the sounds of languages and how they are produced)
• Phonology (the way sounds pattern in different languages)
• Morphology (words and other units of meaning)
• Syntax (how words combine to form sentences)
• Semantics (the meanings of words, phrases and sentences)
• Pragmatics (language used in context)
• Language acquisition before puberty
• Language acquisition after puberty
• How languages evolve through time
• Language and the brain